Imperial Heresy
History As the thirty-first millennium came to a close, so with it went the Emperor’s Great Crusade. Already His mighty armies, led by his Primarchs had conquered almost all of known space, reunifying the strands of man under His rule. It was into this void that the Emperor announced to his sons that he was leaving the forefront of the Crusade to return to Terra. Command of his armies would be vested in his favoured son, Horus. It was after this declaration that the rot began to set in. The bitter disputes over the use of psychic powers came to a head at Nikaea, with legions vehemently split over their use. The Emperor's final ruling eliminating all use of psychic powers enraged the Thousand Sons. They saw Nikaea as a terrible mistake, and secretly vowed to save the Emperor from himself. Some suspected a darker purpose. Little did they know how truly dark their Father’s purpose was. After the Emperor returned to Terra, the warp started to shift, as if something or someone was stirring it up. Warp travel became more and more treacherous, and the Expeditionary fleets found movement to be harder and harder. The Astronomican was flickering, causing momentary havoc across the Imperium. On the feral world of Davin, Warmaster Horus was struck down by an alien blade which baffled the finest of the legion’s apothecaries. As he lay in delirium, he was visited by his brother Magnus, who along with Kurze and Alpharius was trying to warn Horus of his father’s treachery. The plan was a desperate one, as the blow was an attempt by the Word Bearers to keep Horus unable to influence events going on elsewhere, but Magnus was ultimately successful. The ordeal revealed to the Warmaster the true dangers of Chaos - a power so great that it had taken over his father, turning him against his sons. As Horus struggled to recover and prepare himself, events overtook him. Curze of the Night Lords attacked Rogal Dorn, before vanishing. The Emperor ordered the Space Wolves to Prospero, to bring Primarch Magnus back to Terra for the crime of using illegal psychic powers. When Horus recovered, he called a meeting of his closest warriors, including the Mournival. What he said there stunned them all. Garviel Loken could barely believe what he had just been told. The Emperor, working with fell powers of the Warp? The Emperor, questing for Godhood? If it hadn’t been for the Warmaster’s expression, the way he was taking this revelation, he would have considered it heresy, treason. But the way Horus was acting, like someone who had just seen everything he’d ever believed in and served destroyed before his very eyes. Beside him, Torgaddon stared forth grimly, his usual jovial humour gone. Abaddon gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, barely holding in his anger, while Little Horus acted mechanically, as if the life had drained out of him. Horus looked grim, shaken, his usual humour gone as he addressed them. 'I am going to topple our traitorous father from his Throne on Terra before he destroys mankind.' Horus rose from his seat, continuing to speak as he circled the table. 'Take a moment and look at the face of the man sitting next to you. In the coming fight, he will be your brother, for all others will turn from us when our Father finds out we know the truth. Brother will fight brother and the fate of humanity will be in our hands. We will face accusations of heresy and cries of treason, but they will fall from us because we know the truth. Make no mistake about that. We know the truth the Emperor has been hiding from us all Remember the Mournival oath my captains here have sworn to. We have to uphold the truth of the Imperium of Mankind, no matter what evil may assail it, even if that evil is at the very heart of the Imperium. The Emperor has sorely misjudged me if he thinks I will stand by while he abandons his realm and his people in his quest for godhood, and leaves us amid the destruction of his rampant ambition.’ The Emperor had long known about the power of Chaos, and after many thousands of year battling its siren song, it had finally set its hooks into Him after the pressure of maintaining the Astronomican in the face of the eternal assaults of the Chaos gods finally overwhelmed even his mighty defenses. A fatal chink was opened in his armour by Lorgar, who suggested that he become a God in order to better protect Humanity from the Warp. Though he had dismissed the idea at first, it had preyed upon his mind, weakened him to the touch of the Warp. Now He hungered after its power, thirsted to be equal with the Gods. He was working actively with the four great powers, aspiring to be number five in the unholy pantheon. He had a great plan, and it was nearing to completion. However with Horus now wise to the truth, he had to be silenced before he could reveal all. Even as the Imperial forces assembled to confront Horus, terrible news came from Prospero that the Space Wolves had failed in their assault. The Sons, wearing the new ‘Helms of Magnus’ had unleashed terrible destruction upon the wolves, driving them from the planet’s surface and scattering the fleet. With this blow, the dream of the Imperium seemed to fray and snap as the divides opened…